Bulgaria / Supreme Court of Cassation / Court Order No 1581 of 2 April 2024 on civil case No 3282/2023

Country

Bulgaria

Title

Bulgaria / Supreme Court of Cassation / Court Order No 1581 of 2 April 2024 on civil case No 3282/2023

View full case

Year

2024

Decision/ruling/judgment date

Tuesday, April 02, 2024

Incident(s) concerned/related

Discrimination

Related Bias motivation

Religion

Groups affected

Muslims

Court/Body type

National Court

Court/Body

Supreme Court of Cassation (Върховен касационен съд)

Key facts of the case

The case concerns the non-pecuniary damage suffered by the applicant as a result of harassment on the grounds of religion, as defined in §1, item 1 of the Additional Provisions of the Protection against Discrimination Act. The harassment included the use of offensive remarks about the applicant's religion (stating that "Islam is the religion of terrorists"), shouting to disrupt the verbal recitation of prayers, destruction of gifts, forcibly giving the applicant food and water, encouraging other prisoners not to listen to the applicant’s discussions about Islam, and physical violence against the applicant while they were performing prayer rituals, including being kicked in the back and pushed. The first and second instance courts convicted the defendants to cease and desist from discriminatory acts on the grounds of religion against the applicant, and to pay them a compensation of BGN 800 (approximately €400), entered into force. The defendants appealed the decision before the Supreme Court of Cassation (SAC) (Върховен касационен съд, ВКС)

Main reasoning/argumentation

The court found that no substantiated grounds for a cassation appeal. Consequently, the contested decision was not subject to cassation review. The Supreme Court of Cassation (SCC) (Върховен касационен съд, ВКС) ruled that the contested decision was valid, admissible, and free from any apparent irregularities.

Is the case related to the application of the Framework Decision on Racism and Xenophobia, the Racial Equality Directive?

Key issues (concepts, interpretations) clarified by the case

According to Supreme Court of Cassation case-law, the applicant must prove facts suggesting discrimination. Once established, the defendant must then prove the applicant’s right to equal treatment was not violated. In this case, the appellate court found the applicant’s allegations likely valid, based on witness testimony confirming the defendants’ conduct. The defendants failed to provide evidence disproving the claim. The court applied the anti-discrimination legislation in line with the relevant case-law of the Supreme Court of Cassation (SAC) (Върховен касационен съд, ВКС).

Results (sanctions, outcome) and key consequences or implications of the case

The cassation appeal against the appellate court's decision was not admitted. As a result, the contested decision convicting the defendants to cease and desist from discriminatory acts on the grounds of religion against the applicant, and to pay them a compensation of BGN 800 (approximately €400), entered into force.

Key quotation in original language and its unofficial translation into English with reference details

„[Съдът е счел], че ответниците, които заедно с ищеца изтърпяват наказание лишаване от свобода в Затвора - Стара Загора, са осъществили спрямо него в периода 09.12.2016 г. - 09.12.2021 г. тормоз по смисъла на § 1, т. 1 ДР на ЗЗДискр. на основата на признака „религия“ – чрез използване на обидни изрази спрямо религията на ищеца („че ислямът е религия на терористи“), викане с цел да осуетят словесното изричане на молитви, унищожаване на дарове, принудително даване на храна и вода на ищеца, разговори с други затворници да не слушат разсъжденията на ищеца за религията „ислям“, както и чрез упражнено спрямо ищеца физическо насилие докато изпълнява молитвени ритуали – ритане в гръб и бутане. Приел е, че тези действия на ответниците са довели до накърняване на достойнството на ищеца и са създали унизителна, принизяваща го, негативна среда." “[The court held] that the defendants, who together with the applicant were serving a prison sentence in the Stara Zagora Prison, had harassed the applicant in the period from 09.12.2016 to 09.12.2021 within the meaning of §1(1) of the Protection against Discrimination Act based on the attribute of "religion" – by using insulting expressions against the applicant's religion ("that Islam is a religion of terrorists"), shouting in order to prevent the verbal recitation of prayers, destruction of gifts, forcibly giving the applicant food and water, talking to other prisoners not to listen to the applicant's reasoning about the religion "Islam", and by physically abusing the applicant while performing prayer rituals – kicking them in the back and pushing them. The appellate court held that these acts of the defendants had the effect of violating the applicant's dignity and had created a humiliating, degrading and negative environment.”

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